ACQ 315 / ACQ 315V: Understanding Industry (Business Acumen)
This course is for the federal acquisition workforce who want to understand how industry actually thinks, so they can build requirements, competitions, and incentives that get better results.
Government and industry too often talk past each other. The government issues a requirement; the contractor reads it and decides whether the work is worth bidding, what profit it can earn, and how much risk it is willing to carry. This course shows the government side how a company actually makes those calls — and how to use that knowledge to shape acquisitions industry wants to win.
Taught entirely from the industry perspective, the course covers the business acumen behind a contractor's decisions: industry orientation and organization, cost and financial planning, business strategy and development, supplier management, incentives, and negotiating strategies. Participants learn how companies align strategy, finances, and operations to meet their business goals and earn a fair and reasonable profit — and how to turn that insight into requirements and strategies that resonate with industry, sharpen competition, and deliver the best value to the taxpayer.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, who has worked federal contracting from all three sides of the table — as a federal contractor, as a consultant, and on the government side as part of the federal acquisition workforce. She draws on her law degree (JD) and MBA studies, along with government work spanning a contract portfolio exceeding $7.7 billion, to show participants how industry really operates. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 20-plus agencies.
Best for: Experienced members of the federal acquisition workforce — contracting officers, contract specialists, program and project managers, and the requiring-activity and technical staff who shape acquisition strategy.
Format: Available in two tiers, mirroring DAU/WarU's own delivery model. The full ACQ 315 course runs four-and-a-half days (equivalent to the DAU/WarU ACQ 315) and can be delivered in person or virtually. The full course awards 38 CLPs to eligible federal acquisition workforce attendees. A note on CLPs: This course earns CLPs toward your continuous-learning requirement. Because agencies and certifications set their own rules on what qualifies, check with your Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) if you're applying it to a specific plan.
For teams that want a shorter, focused engagement, Understanding Industry Workshop is a two-day session covering the same ground, but less in depth.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.
This course is for the federal acquisition workforce who want to understand how industry actually thinks, so they can build requirements, competitions, and incentives that get better results.
Government and industry too often talk past each other. The government issues a requirement; the contractor reads it and decides whether the work is worth bidding, what profit it can earn, and how much risk it is willing to carry. This course shows the government side how a company actually makes those calls — and how to use that knowledge to shape acquisitions industry wants to win.
Taught entirely from the industry perspective, the course covers the business acumen behind a contractor's decisions: industry orientation and organization, cost and financial planning, business strategy and development, supplier management, incentives, and negotiating strategies. Participants learn how companies align strategy, finances, and operations to meet their business goals and earn a fair and reasonable profit — and how to turn that insight into requirements and strategies that resonate with industry, sharpen competition, and deliver the best value to the taxpayer.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, who has worked federal contracting from all three sides of the table — as a federal contractor, as a consultant, and on the government side as part of the federal acquisition workforce. She draws on her law degree (JD) and MBA studies, along with government work spanning a contract portfolio exceeding $7.7 billion, to show participants how industry really operates. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 20-plus agencies.
Best for: Experienced members of the federal acquisition workforce — contracting officers, contract specialists, program and project managers, and the requiring-activity and technical staff who shape acquisition strategy.
Format: Available in two tiers, mirroring DAU/WarU's own delivery model. The full ACQ 315 course runs four-and-a-half days (equivalent to the DAU/WarU ACQ 315) and can be delivered in person or virtually. The full course awards 38 CLPs to eligible federal acquisition workforce attendees. A note on CLPs: This course earns CLPs toward your continuous-learning requirement. Because agencies and certifications set their own rules on what qualifies, check with your Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) if you're applying it to a specific plan.
For teams that want a shorter, focused engagement, Understanding Industry Workshop is a two-day session covering the same ground, but less in depth.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.